Lt. Gov. nominee a major headache for Quinn, Democrats

Gov. Pat Quinn finally won the Democratic governor nomination Thursday, only to find himself trying to dump a running mate who has been accused of abusing women, failing to pay child support and spending lavishly on extramarital affairs.

While Quinn suggested that Scott Lee Cohen drop out for the good of the Democratic Party, the pawnbroker and political neophyte vowed to continue as a lieutenant governor candidate after voters nominated him Tuesday.

"My honesty and integrity in putting it out there is the best thing that could happen to the party," Cohen told the Tribune.

His ex-wife, Debra York-Cohen, appeared with him Thursday as part of a media blitz aimed at repairing his image. York-Cohen said she stood by allegations she made during the couple's divorce, but that Cohen's bad behavior took place when he was using steroids.

"It was a short period of time, and it's certainly not something that the people of Illinois need to be concerned with," York-Cohen said.

But new disclosures showed that even as Cohen was spending more than $2 million of his own money to run TV and radio ads for his campaign, his ex-wife in December was accusing him in court of being $54,000 behind in child support payments. Cohen and his ex-wife declined to discuss the ongoing case.

The latest details came after the Tribune reported Wednesday that police and court records from an October 2005 incident show that Cohen's then-girlfriend alleged he put a knife to her throat and pushed her head against a wall. Public records show that the woman, his 24-year-old girlfriend at the time, pleaded guilty to prostitution that same month.

The misdemeanor charges against Cohen were later dropped when the woman did not show up for court. Cohen also denied allegations he physically assaulted her and used a knife.

Cohen said Thursday he didn't know the woman was a prostitute and met her when he got a "straight massage" at the Eden Spa.

But a Glenview police report indicates his ex-girlfriend freely told an undercover officer posing as a massage customer that women there performed sex acts for money. The April 2005 report detailed a sexual act that Cohen's ex-girlfriend performed for $150, then told the undercover officer that the spa operator "is well-aware of what the girls are doing."